NewsUSAWhat will happen after Trump is indicted?

What will happen after Trump is indicted?

Donald Trump’s arraignment, scheduled for Tuesday in New York City, is scheduled to last less than an hour. But it could take years for his case to come to a conclusion as the former president mounts a defense, extending the case beyond the 2024 US presidential election in which he is running.

Trump became the first former president to face criminal charges when a grand jury in New York voted last week to indict him in connection with a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

The indictment, which remains sealed, is expected to be released after Trump’s court appearance.

Lance Fletcher, a New York City criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said a typical felony can take a year to get to trial in New York.

“Whether it’s a high-profile case or [involucra] very serious charges, this back and forth during the pretrial could easily take two years,” Fletcher said in an interview with the VOA. “So I wouldn’t be surprised if this took more than two years.”

At Trump’s arraignment, or initial court appearance, the judge assigned to the case, Juan Merchan, will read the charges against him and, as is customary for defendants, Trump will plead not guilty.

The next legal steps include a series of pre-trial proceedings, lasting months or even years, followed by jury selection and trial.

Although more than 90% of felony cases in New York, as in the rest of the country, end with a plea deal, Trump’s lawyer has said there is “zero” chance the former president will consider that option.

Under New York’s speedy trial laws, a felony trial must begin within six months of the arraignment. But the deadline is almost always missed, as both sides ask for additional time to prepare.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case, and his newly expanded team of lawyers has vowed to fight the charges tooth and nail before they even go before a jury.

In recent days, Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, has said he will seek to have the charges dismissed based on the novel legal theory on which the case appears to be based. The judge is unlikely to please, experts say.

Even if the judge doesn’t dismiss the charges, Trump has other ways to fight and potentially prolong the case. One is the filing of pretrial motions, which are requests for the court to resolve certain issues before the trial begins.

In criminal cases, there are several common pretrial motions: motions to dismiss charges for insufficient evidence; motions to suppress evidence that was obtained illegally or improperly; and motions to change the venue due to excessive publicity.

In Trump’s case, legal experts say, his defense team is expected to raise all of those issues and then some.

Among other motions, Trump’s defense attorneys are likely to challenge his indictment based on New York’s statute of limitations, said Cheryl Bader, a clinical associate professor of law at Fordham University School of Law.

A statute of limitations is a time limit within which a crime can be prosecuted. In New York, the statute of limitations is two years for misdemeanors and five years for most felonies.

Given that the hush money payment was made nearly seven years ago, defense attorneys could argue that Trump cannot legally be charged with a crime related to the alleged payment.

But the law provides for exceptions, and since New York prosecutors “have gone this far, I’d be surprised if any of this was thrown out for a violation of the statute of limitations,” Fletcher said.

Another pretrial fight is likely to break out over discovery, the most important process by which parties share information with each other.

Fletcher said the Trump team’s request for information could amount to “an ocean of material,” ranging from all investigative notes and all business and financial records.

“We could be talking about thousands or tens of thousands of pages of materials,” the former prosecutor said. “And, with every page that’s turned, they’ll be able to argue back and forth about whether that’s the full record of that document.”

Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor, said an “early fight” could break out over a potential gag order against Trump.

In high-profile cases, it has become common in recent years for judges to order defendants to refrain from commenting publicly on the case.

But Trump is a presidential candidate, and placing a gag order on him could violate his First Amendment right to free speech, said Turley, who appeared as a witness invited by Republicans during Trump’s first impeachment hearing.

“He’s someone running for president, and one of the issues he’s running on is the politicization of the criminal justice system,” Turley said in an interview.

Ultimately, it is the judge who will determine whether to approve a pretrial motion.

Asked what tactics Trump might use to delay the case, Bader said: “His lawyers can ask the court for continuances but it’s usually at the discretion of the judge and with all the eyes of the nation watching, and the primary just around the corner.” corner, this judge may want to keep this case moving without delay.”

On the other hand, Bader noted, “there are several legal issues in the case, many of which are novel legal issues, so the judge will need to give Trump’s lawyers an opportunity to argue their motions.”

If Trump is acquitted, Trump can hail it as a victory. But if he is found guilty of any of the charges against him, he has multiple appeal options.

Initially, he could challenge his conviction at the trial court level under New York criminal procedure law, arguing that the jury erred in the case, Fletcher said.

If that attempt fails, he could appeal the case through the state appellate courts and eventually to the United States Supreme Court.

Turley said an appeal could be filed even before a trial takes place.

“If the judge denies the motion to dismiss, Trump’s lawyer will likely request the right to go to the Court of Appeals. [la corte de apelaciones más alta de Nueva York]potentially even to the Supreme Court before any trial takes place,” Turley said.

Source: VOA Español

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